FTC asks court to halt Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard purchase
The United States Federal Trade Commission has asked a federal court to halt Microsoft‘s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
Earlier this week the Xbox maker won a court battle with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which is seeking to block the deal over antitrust concerns.
Now, the FTC has asked for an order which would prevent the deal from closing. If this happens, and the FTC is granted this stay, it’s possible that the deal between Microsoft and Activision will expire.
On July 18, both sides are free to walk away from the deal, however, it’s likely that the two sides would simply negotiate an extension.
“We’re disappointed that the FTC is continuing to pursue what has become a demonstrably weak case, and we will oppose further efforts to delay the ability to move forward,” said Microsoft President Brad Smith in an emailed statement to Reuters.
The FTC has claimed that Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley’s decision to refuse a preliminary injunction to halt the deal “raises serious, substantial issues for the Court of Appeals to resolve.”
“Granting an injunction pending appeal is warranted because the FTC is likely to succeed on appeal,” the agency wrote.
“More fundamentally, the Court committed an error of law when it relied upon the self-serving testimony of Microsoft executives that they do not intend to foreclose rivals as a reason to find the FTC had failed to make its prima facie case,” the FTC wrote in its motion.
The CMA, Microsoft and Activision Blizzard announced on Tuesday that they’d paused legal proceedings with a view to reaching an out of court agreement on the merger, after the Xbox firm won its case against the FTC.
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